My first all grain brew!

[jasonlax]

I brewed up my first all grain recipe today, a hefeweizen. I used 5 lbs of Weyerman Bohemian Pilsner malt, 4 lbs of Weyerman floor malted Bohemian wheat, and 1 lb of Weyerman Abbey malt. I used 2 oz of Hallertau hops and a little yeast nutrient. I pitched Weihenstephan Wheat yeast, wyeast 3068.

I used a muslin bag for the grain - any opinions on the pros and cons of that would be appreciated. What are some other straining techniques for all grain brews?

-Jason

 

[Ticebain]

If possible move to a nylon bag. It does not stretch like muslin so you won't have all the grain escaping. If you are going to biab the. Get the biggest bag you can. And stir stir stir. Unless you had a huge muslin bag I guarantee you lost efficiency because the smaller bag will keep the grain real tight. You want your mash to look like watery oatmeal. Not a big ball of dough. When you dough in pour slowly and keep stirring the entire time and for at least a minute after all your grain is in

 

[Transamguy77]

5 gallon paint strainer bags from Lowes or the Depot, like $4 for 2. I used them when I did BIAB and now I use them as my hop bag for 10 gallon batches.

 

[jasonlax]

My hefeweizen has been bottled for just over 3 weeks. The smell is nice, but the taste is a bit watery. I'm hoping this balances out with age, but since it's drinkable, I consider my first all grain brew a success.

-Jason

 

[rniles]

IMHO hefeweizen are not an aging beer. They are best young.

Your grain bill looks ok although I've never tried Weyerman Abbey malt. I usually use a Munich malt. Your hopping is a bit high but not problem there. The 3068 yeast is the best yeast IMHO.

You didn't mention your fermentation temp. I'm a BIG fan of fermenting a Hefe at 62 degrees but most people ferment at 67 - 70 degrees.

You didn't mention the carbing. It should be nicely carbed.

So the big variable is the Abbey malt I think. Although tough to say.

Highly malt-aromatic. Adds deep-amber to red-brown color,
maltiness, body, and mouthfeel to finished beer

 

[rniles]

Also what was your OG and FG readings? And the temp of your mash?

 

[jasonlax]

The hefeweizen is still watery. I gave a few to friends to get other opinions, but everyone said watery.

So, round 2. My grain bill:

4 lbs. Weyerman Bohemian Pilsner malt
6 lbs. floor malted Bohemian wheat
1 lb. Crisp Torrified wheat
Wyeast 3068
1 oz. Hallertau whole hops
All grains are in a single muslin bag, 5 gallon pot.
I'm planning to ferment at 68 degrees (previous attempt was at 70-72 degrees)

I'm using the mash schedule from madfermentalist.com, hefeweizen decoction recipe. I didn't understand the sparge on my previous attempt, so that likely caused problems. I think I've got the idea now. I'm also going to place the hops in a muslin bag this time during the boil.

I kegged my La Fin du Monde clone (Maltose.com) and it turned out pretty good. This was my first attempt at kegging - which I find much easier than bottling! I plan to keg this hefe also.

-Jason

 

[RM-MN]

Don't use a muslin bag for your grains. The muslin bag holds the grains too tight so you can't get them stirred in properly which will get you a really low efficiency. Use a nylon mesh bag (paint strainer works well, so do Swiss voille curtains made into a bag) so you can get the grains really wet and mixed. The grains should look like a thin porridge.

 

[jasonlax]

Ok. Too late for this batch though. I will try the nylon bag for batch # 3. Thanks for the advice.

-Jason

 

[jasonlax]

OG 1.05 @ 70 degrees

 

[rniles]

Good OG for a hefe ...that puts you at 1.051 corrected for temp.

 

[jasonlax]

Vigorous bubbling after about 8 hrs. Looks good so far!

 

[jasonlax]

Moved the hefeweizen from the primary (3 weeks at 68 degrees) directly to the keg. A significant improvement from my last ag hefe. I'm happy with it, but it's soft, sort of like a Yazoo hefe - I'm hoping to get a more pronounced version, like a Franziskaner. For my next hefe, I will use the same grain bill, but will use the nylon bag vs the muslin, and I plan to bottle instead of keg.

Any ideas on a more pronounced clove/banana flavor? Should I make a yeast starter with the Wyeast or possibly change to the White Labs?

-Jason

 

[jasonlax]

I've been reading "Brewing with Wheat", what a great book. I'm brewing AG Hefe III this weekend.

-Jason